The Best of McFly, Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham

They're a little bit older than when we last saw them and despite numerous commitments away from the band, McFly still know how to throw a great party!

Fresh from running the London Marathon in an impressive 3h 31 the day before, drummer Harry Judd (who also lifted the Strictly Come Dancing trophy in 2011) and the boys hosted a show that actually lived up to its billing as The Best of McFly.

Leaping about the stage like loons they were as full of energy as they were in the early days, which, to be fair, is now a whopping ten years ago! But with hits like Five Colours in Her Hair sparking a crackle through the crowd there was no danger of anything less.

Right from the off, with a beautiful vocal rendition of That Girl, Tom, Danny, Dougie and Harry held the young audience in the palm of their hand.

It's an energetic greatest hits tour to promote their latest album, Memory Lane, which features a taste of unreleased material the band particularly like, alongside their early hits Obviously, All About You, One For The Radio and Party Girl.

Whether you think they're pop-punk or a 21st Century Monkees, the audience adored them, feasting on their energy to rock the auditorium. Aside from the core teenage clientele, there was a smattering of middle aged fans too – and of course, the mums who needed little persuading to get out to enjoy the music, the banter and the bouncing in the stalls.

Away from the recording studio these savvy lads – two of whom had auditioned for Busted before settling on McFly – have been busy. Harry also took part in the Olympic Torch Relay Run, while Dougie Poynter was named King of the Jungle in I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here.

But this is now – and the tour everyone has been waiting for, bringing the excitement of tracks from five albums and seven UK No.1 singles and racks up the anticipation of a new album for this summer.

The biggest cheers was reserved for the last three numbers of the evening.

Their biggest hit Love is Easy featured with Comic Relief single All About You in a strong encore, which slowed things down a little after over 100 minutes of music with The Heart Never Lies to close.

The Vamps, as support, did a grand job warming up the Concert Hall and we'll be hearing more from them as they've just signed to EMI.

Blood Brothers at Nottingham Theatre Royal

It was my first time, I admit it. And I was unprepared for the power of a story which left us all in danger of leaving the theatre as emotional wrecks.

And not just me. By the end of the final number, a thundering reprise of Tell Me It's Not True, Maureen Nolan needed three curtain calls before the tears were finally wiped from her eyes.

If you've ever been touched by tales of Peter Pan, Two Little Boys or even Puff The Magic Dragon, you'll know how important it is to enjoy your childhood and resist growing up for as long as you can.

In this musical, separated-at-birth twins Mickey (Sean Jones) and Eddie (Mark Hutchinson) somehow keep bumping into each other without knowing their true identities – and become firm friends from school through to adulthood and all of the challenges that brings.

Embracing the Prince and The Pauper theme, one of these lads ends up having it all, while the other has nothing and manages to lose even that.

Maureen (as their mother, Mrs Johnstone), and the narrator Warwick Evans, kept the tempo and the story ticking along at pace, so that even though we didn't leave the theatre until after 10.30pm, the show never felt like a long haul. Warwick's ability as a performance poet, passing vital elements of the narrative as the spoken word blended neatly with his musical skill, helping every life event for the cast move seamlessly from one to the next.

The love interest for Mickey – and then Eddie – came in the perfect shape of Olivia Sloyan as Linda. She had each milestone off to a tee, and we particularly enjoyed her part in the schoolday pastiches, the moments when she tries to woo Mickey, and her powerful performances later on, dealing with ex-con Mickey, by then her husband, who's struggling to live a family life while up to his eyeballs in anti-depressants.

So there, in a nutshell, is the plot. Of course no man could fail to notice Linda, and when Eddie is drawn to her as he tries to help get her and Mickey's lives back on track, tragedy strikes.

This is a full-scale modern musical celebrating its 28^th anniversary, which still stands aside from many of the traditional theatre-fillers. Catchy reprises of Marilyn Monroe, Shoes Upon the Table and Tell Me It's Not True ensure the inevitable standing ovation.